Tragic Romance

"Dad!" Little Zacky screamed as he came running out of his class room. He jumped into his fathers arms as his class mates watched in wonderment. "You came!" Zacky sighed, happily.
"I told you last night I'd be here! Good job on keeping the secret, man," Zack cheered to his grinning son.
"No problem, Dad!" He shouted as Zack put him down, "I made a friend today! A real friend, his name is James!"
I smiled at my rowdy little boy, "Did you really? Is he in your class?" I questioned, giving him a big hug. Zacky nodded excitedly.
"Well where is he?" Zack asked, "I want to meet him!"
Little Zacky rolled his eyes and pointed at his class room, "My teacher wanted to talk to him. He's really funny, he got in trouble today though and it's his first day here! He told me his old school said he couldn't come back! I wish school would tell me that," Little Zacky grumbled towards the end, folding his little arms over his chest.
Zack picked him up in his arms, "We can wait," He murmured and Zacky grinned and looked to me, I just nodded. It took awhile for the kid to come out accompanied by the same teacher I had seen earlier that day. When he finally emerged there was only one other person standing in the halls. She was a dark headed girl who wore a pair of ripped black jeans, converse and a really old Avenged Sevenfold shirt. When I pointed that out to Zack he smirked and ducked behind me slightly, not in the mood to deal with another teenage girl.
The boy, James, came walking out wearing a bright orange sweatshirt and tattered jeans. His dark hair was medium length, but spiked up. He looked over to us and I almost gasped at his intense blue eyes and his shocking similarity to the man I once knew. He raced away from Mrs. Gretzy and ran our direction. "Hey Zacky!" He greeted and Zack gasped next to me. I looked to him and he seemed to be off in his own world, his eyes were unfocused and in just a few seconds he jumped out of what ever trance he was in and gave me a small, uneasy smile.
I glanced to the boys in front of us, "Zacky aren't you going to introduce us to your friends?"
"Yeah!" He shouted, jumping around, "This is my Mom and my Dad," He leaned into James and tried to whisper in his ear, "He's famous!"
Zack chuckled and waved to the kid.
"Hey! I know you!" James shouted, "My sister has a poser of you and a bunch of others on the wall!" He turned around and pointed to the girl, who was now leaning against the wall with earphones in and her eyes shut. James ran over to her and ripped the purple head phones from her ear. Her eyes shot open and she hit the kid in the head. "Don't fucking hit me, Jacoby!" He growled, "Look!" He pointed to Zack and I could see the girl's blue eyes go wide.
"Don't stand there like an idiot!" James shouted and grabbed her arm, "Come on," He dragged her over to us. The duo stood in front of us and the girl, Jacoby, was silent.
"Hi," Zack said rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm Zacky Vengeance," If it was possible Jacoby's eyes grew wider and she looked around as if she was looking for something that was supposed to be there and it wasn't.
"Hey, What are you looking for?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"Ashton Kutcher," She said right away, pulling her hood off of her head, "From Prank'd, you know, that show," Jacoby kept looking around and Zack and I burst into laughter.
"Why would you think, Ashton Kutcher would be at an elementary school?
She rolled her eyes and kept looking around, "Why the fuck wouldn't he be? That's the only reason Zacky fucking Vengeance would be standing like three feet from me acting like it's no big deal,"
Again Zack and started laughing, "No, no, you're not on Prank'd," Zack assured her, "I'm here to pick up my son," He pulled Zacky to him and ruffed up his hair.
Jacoby looked from Zack to Zacky and clicked her tongue, thinking. "It makes enough sense," She concluded, "Could you sign this, man?" She asked, digging through her backpack. She handed Zack the 'Nightmare' CD and a black sharpie. He nodded gently and took them both, scribbling his name underneath the casket, before handing it back to her.
As she stuffed the things back into her bag, she glanced at her cell phone, "Fuck James, we've got to go, we're late," She grumbled taking her little brothers hand and turning back to us, "It's great meeting you, Zacky, Maxx, Uh... Little Zacky..."
"Wait!" I called to her, "How did you know my name?"
"You're Zacky's baby-mama... who doesn't know you?" She shrugged, tugging her brother along with her.
"I don't want to go!" James whined pulling away from his sister and running back over to us, "I want to hang out with Zacky!"
Jacoby sighed angrily, "James Oliver, we do not have the fucking time for this! Lana is going to have our heads if we don't get back there in the next 5 minutes and it's a longer walk then that!"
He crossed his arms, "I don't want to go back there,"
She marched back over to him and grabbed his arm, "We have to go," She growled and turned to us, "It was so great meeting you. Sorry we have to run out like this," She took off down the hall, her short stance pulling her tall little brother.
"Do you need a ride?!" I asked, and she stopped and looked at us, questionably.
"I don't take rides from strangers," Jacoby murmured, her eyes guarded.
Zack looked to me and nodded telling me he'd handle this, "But hey, I'm not a stranger. You probably know a bit about me," Zack shrugged and picked his son up from the ground, "And it is my fault that you're going to be late to where ever it is that you're headed,"
Jacoby rolled her eyes, a smirk on her lips and James shoved her off of him, "I'm getting a ride with Zacky," He grumbled walking over and putting his arm over Zacky's shoulder, smirking at his older sister.
"Fine, you little ass, we can take a ride from them," She said, smiling slightly.
We all piled into the car, those three in the back while I drove and Zack sat in the passengers seat.
"So, Jacoby, How old are you?" I asked, nicely.
"16," She answered.
"Why aren't you at school? The high school doesn't get out for another 45 minutes. You're missing your last class,"
She shrugged, "Some one has to be there to take James home, don't they?"
"Yeah," I murmured pulling out of the school parking lot, "But what about your Mother?"
Both Jacoby and James let out dry laughs at that question, "When you find her, let me know," Jacoby murmured, "That way," She added on pointing at Gleeman road. I took the left.
"Who do you two live with?" Zack asked, turning in his seat to face them.
Jacoby pulled her hood over her head and stuffed her red-brown hair into it, "Lana, she's our foster Mom, but she doesn't have time to pick James and the rest of the kids up so I have to do it,"
I looked at her through the rearview mirror, "Where do the 'rest of the kids' go to school?"
She sighed, "That middle/elementary right on the outskirts of town. James used to go there before the jack ass got himself thrown out," She shrugged pushing her brother away from her. It was quiet for awhile, all except Jacoby directing me where to go. And after about 7 minutes we pulled up outside a nice house, there were a bunch of kids playing outside on the grass, backpacks lingered there, forgotten where they were dropped.
"How many kids live here?" I asked, shutting off the car as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"There are about 11 or 12 of us now," She shrugged and climbed out, "Thanks for the ride," She said as she helped her brother out. The kids outside yelled their 'hello's' to the duo. Before Jacoby could walk away, I hoped out of the car.
"Jacoby!" I called to get her attention.
"Yeah?" She asked, pulling her brothers backpack onto her shoulder.
"Can I come in for a second? Talk to your foster mom?"
Jacoby stared at me confused, "Sure... she's probably making dinner,"
I leaned back into the car and Zack sent me a confused look, "You boys coming?" I asked them and Zack nodded getting out of the car and yanking Zacky out with him through the passengers door.
"Come on in," Jacoby murmured as she dropped their bags near a pile of shoes by the door, "Lana!" She called, motioning for us to follow her through a wood swinging door. "Lana! A friend of mine wants to talk to you!"
The kitchen was big, with an island in the middle and a young 30 something brunette rushing around it cutting and dumping things into other things. She didn't even look up as we entered, "What is it Jacoby, I'm kind of busy,"
"Lana, this is Maxx and Zacky and their son, Little Zacky," She introduced us and 'Lana' looked up, smiling, her hair falling out of the messy bun she put it in. She wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing, "It's very nice to meet you!" She greeted, her eyes scanning over us and stopping when they got to Zack, "Oh, your the man from that poster of Jacoby's on the kids' wall,"
Zack nodded at her, having already heard this story.
"Hi, I'm Maxx Lukas, I'd like to talk to you," I said, smiling at her.
Lana gave me a confused glance, "What about?"
"Nothing bad," I laughed, "I'd just like to ask you if it'd be okay if I brought James home after school so Jacoby won't miss her last hour,"
Lana seemed shocked at my bluntness and she nodded after a moment, "I don't know, I don't just let some random person bring my children home,"
I sighed, "I expected that, but I'm no creep. I just think it'd work out better that way for everyone involved,"
Lana stopped working on dinner all together and walked around the kitchen island to where we were standing, "James, Jacoby go play," She murmured and shooed them off. The blue eyed James turned to Zacky, "Come on!" They ran off through another door on the other side of the kitchen.
Lana's face grew stern, "Why would you go out of your way for two orphaned children?"
"Because I didn't have the best childhood, I knew what it was like to raise a little brother and try to go to school. Luckily I had friends that would pick him up for me," I nudged Zack in the side and he sent me a small smile, remembering. "Plus that little boy reminds me of my best friend,"
Lana looked flustered, "Well, how so?"
Zack spoke up, taking my hand in his, "They have the same name, an middle initial. And from what I've seen they seem like they have the same personality, hyper," Zack and I chuckled quietly.
"I'd like to meet this James friend of yours," Lana concluded and I lip my lip.
"I'm sorry, you'll never be able to. Unfortunately he died six years ago," I told her, my eyes meeting her tired brown ones.
"Oh, I'm so sorry,"
"Thank you," Zacky and I said at the same time, "They have the same eyes," I told her, "I'm sorry if this seems really weird, but that little boy, James, is like what I would expect the reincarnation of Jimmy to be like,"
Lana gasped and looked to the door that the boys had run through, "That's impossible," She murmured, defensively.
"I know," I claimed, "He just reminds me of him,"
"You can pick him up," She blurted out of nowhere, "He needs friends. He's always getting in trouble, he seems to like your Zacky, so thank you,"
I nodded at her with a grin on my face. "Starting tomorrow, then?"
Lana nodded. "Well you might want to let Jacoby know that she can't skip her last class," I laughed as Zacky wrapped his tattooed arms around my shoulders.
"James! Jacoby!" Lana yelled behind her. I heard kids running around all over the place and two boys, identical, came rushing into the kitchen,
"Lana?" One asked,
"When is the food going to be done?" Said the other. They couldn't be any older then nine or ten, the were both wearing stripped shirts and khaki pants. One's shirt was red and the other green and they both had their own mop of curly blonde hair.
"Oh," The one in the green giggled, poking his brother.
"Hello there," The one in red quipped, turning to face us.
"I'm Taavi," The first one murmured, quietly, slightly shifting so he was behind his brother. The one in green rolled his eyes, playfully, at his shy brother.
"And I'm Tailyx. Are you here to adopt?" He questioned.
I shook my head, "No, not today,"
He smiled and nodded and the two walked off, saying their hello's to James as he and Zacky waltzed in.
"Lana? Can I go to Zacky's?" James enquired as he stood in front of her.
"Ask Zacky's parents," Lana answered, loosing herself in dinner preparations.
James turned to me and rose an eyebrow, "Sure," I shrugged, "Does your sister want to come?"